My story of owning a
restaurant from day one until now. The details of my heartaches,
triumphs, ups and downs, sacrifices, financial struggles and more...The growth of a restaurant owner to a restaurateur. This blog is best read chronologically starting with the oldest post.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

2009 A New Chapter Begins

Disclaimer:This blog is a chronological story that outlines
some of my past struggles and triumphs over the years with building a
successful restaurant. If this is your first visit to my blog I suggest
starting with the oldest post for a better understanding and more
enjoyable read .

After 7 years of ownership, the ship (Avalon Restaurant) had
finally stopped sinking, but the water line was still around my neck. I needed
to continue to improve the overall dining experience and get more people in the
seats, especially midweek. My menu, for the most part, was French influenced,
Mediterranean, 1980s American continental, with an occasional Asian twist. In
other words …confusion cuisine. I recently ran across an advertisement the
restaurant ran around 2005 that read “casual fine dining featuring regional and
southwestern dishes as well as Asian, European and Cajun selections” The ad made
my wife and I laugh so hard we almost peed our pants. Why was my restaurant so
dead back then?I now know that taking a
better look at ads like this would have gone a long way to answering questions
like that.

Sometimes a firm grasp of the obvious can be as startling as
a swift kick in the boys. I was never a firm believer in “the customer is
always right.” I was, however, a firm believer in “the customer is always right
as long as they loved my restaurant.” Everyone who complained was dumb,
annoying and didn’t know a damn thing about food. But, I was desperate for more
repeat business so I decided I would ask my few customers what they wanted and
what would bring them back more often. Once I got past my egomaniacal anger and
confrontational attitude, I learned the customer isn’t so stupid. Asking them
and then listening to their answer and then giving them the dining experience
they would enjoy most…could prove to be quite fruitful.The overwhelming response I got from
customers was that they loved the Mediterranean style food we created (seafood
pescatore at the time was a big hit), they said Atkins (low carb diet) was
passé and they wanted pasta again. Customers also said they would like
attentive service, but in a more casual environment.

The Philadelphia dining scene was changing thanks to
restaurateurs like Stephen Starr. It wasn’t just about the food anymore; it was
a combination of food, décor and concept. The ambiance and food, in
combination, needed to create a feeling of euphoria.Restaurants were becoming hyper focused,
featuring local ingredients and very specific regional cuisines. The décor of
restaurants was becoming more elaborate and was designed to match the chef’s
style and his food. The customers, who now had a large internet audience, were
becoming amateur food critics. As your customer was leaving you wanted them already
thinking about whom they would bring next. You needed them to leave the
restaurants ready to be ambassadors – like a walking vocal billboard promoting your
restaurant.This was easier said than
done-- but done right it was super effective and potentially viral.

I didn’t have the budget to start a major restaurant
make-over. But I was savvy and I had the advantage of being an hour outside the
city.This made for fewer restaurant
comparisons and a much better opportunity to generate that “wow” factor. I
decided to take off the tablecloths, pledge up the tops and set the tables
naked. I added a giant cheese display to the middle of the dining roomand threw away the old leather bound menus in
exchange for simple menus printed daily, on recycled paper. I flooded the place
with candles, changed to more edgy music and dressed the servers in blue jeans
with bistro aprons and a t-shirt with nicely printed logos.

The biggest change was going to be the menu. This was my
first attempt at writing my own menu and I wanted it to reflect authentic
Italian cuisine. I wanted to include lots of homemade pasta dishes so that the
restaurant would be known for making unique fresh pastas.

As we were about to start our new more modern Avalon
concept, I stressed to the staff that rustic casual was not an excuse for
sloppy. We still needed to maintain beautiful presentation and top notch
service. I let everyone know that we would be under scrutiny, as no one else
was doing anything like this so far from the city. I told them we had come so
very far in 7 years and this was our chance to really stand out. Everyone
seemed excited!

3 comments:

Remember, the customers that love your restaurant for what it is will be the ones that continue to return! You're rarely going to change someone's opinion when they've already been turned off. Thanks for having a great place and being honest about your struggle. I came for the first time tonight to your Downingtown location and had Karen as my server. She was great and the food was phenomenal. I plan to be back shortly. :)

Changing direction can be risky, but you can also reap rewards! You can't please everyone and even making small changes like adding new menu covers, or switching a menu item may cause reason for scrutiny.

About Me

I am a self taught chef and owner of Avalon Restaurant, a neighborhood-oriented BYOB serving Rustic Italian cuisine. I am the father of four beautiful daughters and married to my wonderful wife, Michelle who has to play the role of restaurant hostess, mother, wife and therapist to all my crazy ideas.